TruTech Intro to Thermography

Sign up for FREE LIVE session HERE (click on the Thermal Imaging tab).      or Watch a recorded session HERE.

Thermography 101   75 Minutes

Instructor: John W. Pratten III
Introduction to Thermography
Participants in this course will come away with a better understand of the science behind and practical uses of Thermal Imaging. Topics will include factors for making better, more meaningful thermal images,  common thermal inspection scenarios, and help in choosing a Thermal Imager to suit your needs.

BIO: John W. Pratten III is an ASNT compliant, Level III trained thermographer  and President/Founder of Proactive Maintenance Consultants, LLC
John has conducted thermography training around the world, in the fundamentals of IR and how to set up Predictive Maintenance programs and has trained in building science working closely with State Agencies. John has authored a number of published articles and has a patent in the area of IR. Prior to founding Proactive Maintenance Consultants, LLC , John worked for Fluke Corporation for 10 years as a Thermography Specialist and Trainer and Motorola Semiconductor for 19 years in a variety of sales and management positions.  He has been a 25 year member of the Technical Advisory board for his local Technical College.

Mark Your Calendar! TruTech Owners, Bill Spohn and Jim Bergmann will be interviewed on HomeTalk USA with Mike King LIVE on May 19, 2012 at 10:30 AM CST. You can Record the show or  Listen Live Here.

1) Determine the OPEN AREA as follows: On RETURNS, the OPEN AREA is the 100% of the full measured area of the grille, as the air is flowing first through the 417 measuring vanes, then into the return duct. On SUPPLIES, the OPEN AREA is the fraction or percentage of the grille that the air passes through, before moving through the 417 measuring vanes. See grille manufacturers product info for open area data **. Then Multiply the Duct dimensions (Height and width) in inches by multiply of the OPEN AREA factor. FOR EXAMPLE: We have a supply grille that is 6×10 inches with 65% open area. The open area is 6 x 10 x 0.65 = 39 sq inches open area

2) ENTER the OPEN AREA into the 417. Turn ON the 417, after a few seconds the display comes up. PRESS AND HOLD the RETURN ARROW (Hold/Max/Min Key) until a number appears on the display and the in2 label is blinking. Use the UP or DOWN arrows (VOL and MEAN keys) to adjust the number in the display your open area. IN THE EXAMPLE ABOVE adjust it to 39.0

3) EXIT to measuring mode by pressing the RETURN ARROW (Hold/Max/Min Key) 5 times

4) MEASURE: Place the 4″ vane into the air stream in front of the grille position it at one corner of the grille, perpendicular to the grille surface.

a) Press the MEAN key TWICE to enter the timed average mode.

b) Press the RETURN key (Hold/Max/Min Key) when you want to start collecting data.

c) Keep the 417′s measuring head about 1″ away from the face of the grille. Move the 417 head across the grille at a rate of about 1 foot (12″) over 4 seconds. (note the timer on the 417′s screen)

d) Be sure to “paint” the entire grille face with head of the 417 to account for total flow through the grille. DO NOT paint any area more than once!

e) When you are done covering the entire grille area, press the RETURN key (Hold/Max/Min Key) again to pause the reading on the display.

OPTIONAL: You can measure again (re-paint the entire area) to improve the reading. Just start at step 4b.

5) DISPLAY the average values by pressing the MEAN key. The Timed MEAN icon will flash and the average Feet Per Minute (FPM) will be displayed. Tap the VOL key once to see the Average CFM for this test. Tap the VOL key again to see the Average Temperature for this test. Tapping the VOL key continues rotating thru these three results. NOTE: BE SURE to record the data, as there is NO memory storage in the 417. Once you tap the MEAN key again, the data is gone.

6) CLEAR the data and prepare for another measurement by tapping the MEAN key ** One manufacturer’s data books give open area factors of from 71% to 75% for one type of floor diffuser (depending on size), 66% to 75% for another model and 65% to 75% for another model. While a heavy duty, dual shutter floor grille from the same manufacturer has a range of 48% to 52% open area factor. Generally speaking, the larger the grille dimension, the small the open area factor.

The company was housed at the time in Jim Sr.’s spare bedroom in Richfield, OH!  Yet, the company’s first year sales amounted to a tidy sum for a fledgling startup and consisting mostly of Testo brand products. TruTech was founded on and has continued to focus on understanding, pre-selecting and delivering the very best measurement tools and support to our customers.  “We knew in our hearts there were other contractors out there who shared our passion for proper systems installation and maintenance, and that’s exactly who we started to do business with,” says Jim, Sr.

Before business start- up, Jim, Jr. was employed by Testo, Inc. as a part time technical adviser. Father and son put to use their hands-on knowledge of HVAC testing (and later energy auditing) to deliver remarkable customer service and support, pre and post- sale, as well as sage equipment/troubleshooting advice. These activities established the very strong reputation that TruTech continues to enjoy for our in-depth product knowledge and unrivaled technical support. Jim, Jr.’s wife Robin assisted with all facets of the operation from the beginning: answering the phone, ordering products, maintaining inventory, receiving, packing, shipping and especially, accounting.

In 2008, TruTech began to focus more on products related to the emerging energy efficiency markets, connected with several larger customers and organizations and began to attend key tradeshows. As 2008 came to a close, TruTech’s sales had grown over 1000% and the product mix had expanded to 10 manufacturers. The company moved out of James Sr.’s bedroom to his converted garage in and just a couple months to a rented house, then on to an office suite on Swartz Rd., where it expanded twice over the years.

Bill Spohn worked for Testo as product marketing manager for 10 years. Previously he worked in multiple engineering roles: Quality Control, Design, R&D and Manufacturing, as well as a business unit manager and director of strategic planning. Bill holds BS and MS degrees in engineering, a Professional Engineering license and has served as an expert technical witness. Bill had always wanted to own and run his own business. He is active on several national technical committees and holds three US patents. In early 2009, TruTech invited Bill to join as a member of the company, take on the full time role as general manager and apply his talents, connections and experience to growing the company. Bill amicably left Testo in February 2009 and immediately started with TruTech Tools. “I recognized the Bergmanns’ expertise the first time I met them, and knew immediately that their talents would be extremely valuable to the Building Performance community as well as the HVAC market,” says Spohn.

Business continued to grow in early 2009 as the company improved its understanding of internet marketing. Bill worked the phones, tradeshows, and contacts as well as developed and executed marketing plans. In Mid-2009, as business continued to pick up, a fulltime shipper/receiver (Bill Sutherland) and a fulltime sales manager (Eric Preston) came aboard.

In addition to the birth of TruBrew Beer, 2009 closed with sales up well over 200% and the addition of many new product lines which sprung out of combinations of relationships, research, customer request and market/internet presence. Robin now took on the fulltime roles of office and financial management.

Through 2010, Eric excelled in his understanding of the product lines, and he and Bill Sutherland took part in technical training offered by Bill, Jim, Jr. and outside organizations. Bill drew upon past experiences and new technologies as he continued to work on systems, procedures and policies to create a lean, flexible and nimble organization that communicates rapidly and effectively. Jim, Jr. spearheaded a transition to a more robust and effective web-cart system, while Bill moved the company into virtual communications and accounting systems. Bill’s wife, Marilyn, joined the company in early 2010 to take on some of the growing administrative tasks. 2010 drew to a close with almost 30 product lines available and sales up 20%.

In 2011, we began the year with Jim, Jr. officially joining TruTech as he left Testo. We created our first formal marketing plan by engaging part time Marketing Consultant, Susan McKee. Susan continues to bring keen perspectives from previous experience in consumer marketing allowing Bill to focus on improving operations, evaluating metrics, responding to opportunities and growth. Our goal for 2011 was to let the world know that Jim, Jr. was now directly associated with TruTech. We accomplished this through press releases, Jim, Jr.’s online and magazine writing, technical videos, as well as hosting our first week long training seminar, the TruTech eXpo, where we welcomed 70 attendees to the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center in Brecksville for a four day lecture and hands on lab/conference and training event.  Very positive feedback from the eXpo convinced us to host a second conference in 2012 and add live training to our own product line.  We now regularly host free webinars for our customers on combustion analysis and thermography with more topics to come.  Jim Jr. notes, “I really enjoy seeing the expression on a technician’s face when they finally grasp a concept that had for years eluded them.” Jim, Jr. also performs corporate training with rave reviews from influential groups in all parts of the county. We stay in close contact with our customers by attending and presenting at tradeshows nation-wide and are constantly evolving the content of our website to enrich the customer experience. 2011 ended with sales up 35%.

Our website underwent a comprehensive overhaul as 2012 began, including enhanced graphics, easier searches and more comprehensive tools and training content.   Our physical office moved to a much larger facility on Turkey Foot Lake Rd in Akron to accommodate our growth and a state of the art calibration and repair lab launched in April and manned by Bill Sutherland.  Coincidentally, our fifth full time employee, Josh Crawley, will join us on April 23, 2012, our 5 year anniversary.

We are very excited about the prospects that the future holds for TruTech Tools.  As we cross the critical 5 year benchmark for small businesses, we look back with pride.  “We knew there were customers out there, people who valued expertise in measurement science and had our shared commitment to getting the job done right the first time,” notes Spohn.

Look like we were right!

Thank you for being a part of our journey.

PS

A big thanks to Chad A. our first customer who got us started on April 23, 2007.

Stop by the TruTech Tools booth #505 and pick up a FREE VENT cover from MavCap Industries.

If you register to attend the full conference, come listen to Bill Spohn cover the topics of AC Tune Ups and AirFlow

CLICK HERE for the TTT Thermal Selector for Empower Contractors

TruTechTools makes it easy for you to choose and use a thermal imager.

We have put together this chart to help New York State contractors (working on EMPOWER programs) to choose the best imager to maximize your rebate.

Choose from testo, Fluke or FLIR brands.

We have included every key specification as specified by the program (and a few more of our own) so you know EXACTLY what you are getting for your money.

Measuring Air Flow Tips and Techniques

Technicians and manufactures have long struggled with issues of airflow and airflow measurement.  Due to the time-intensive nature of many measurement procedures and the limited tool selection of the technician, it has been common to use gross airflow estimation methods that are uncorrected.  The temperature rise method, total external static method, pressure drop across filters or coils all examples of gross airflow estimation methods and many times are adequate for the equipment commissioning procedure, however if the desire is to evaluate equipment performance, a more accurate method is required.

The most common and easiest way to measure or with some methods estimate and set airflow is to use one of the following methods:

1. Rotating     Vane Anemometer (Measurement, mid airflow range)
2. Pressure     drop across the dry evaporator coil (estimate)
3. Total     external static pressure method (estimate)
4. Pitot     tube and digital manometer (Measurement, full range airflow measurement,     however low range requires special instrumentation.)
5. Velocity     Stick (Hot Wire Anemometer) (Measurement, very low to mid airflow)
6. The     temperature rise method (Sensible heat formula) (estimate)
7. RPM     and manufacturers fan curve (Belt or VF Drive) (close estimate based     from fan curve, however limited by accuracy of static pressure measurement)
8. Wilson     Grid (TruFlow® Grid) (estimated pressure drop measurement method)

The airflow must first be set according to the equipment design not to the air delivered at the registers. While the design of the duct system is imperative for proper air distribution to the conditioned space, air measurements are only to be measured at the appliance for the equipment commissioning procedure. Due to leakage inherent with all ducting systems, airflow cannot be measured at the registers to verify correct airflow across an evaporator coil or heat exchanger. The problem is not with the operation of the equipment if the system will not heat or cool the home after the airflow is properly set at the appliance and the equipment operation is verified to be correct.  The ducting system should then be evaluated for excessive leakage, proper sizing and proper design. A review of the heat load calculation may be required to verify the equipment selection was correct if the system still will not perform properly. Read More about measuring by specific method…